In Prykarpattya, journalist was chased away from traffic accident site by police

On May 25, in the urban-type village Verkhovyna (Ivano-Frankivska oblast), the journalist of the newspaper “Dorozhnyi Kontrol” ("Road Control") Vitaliy Matsiotskyi was not allowed to record footage at the site of a traffic accident, in which one of the participants was driving the official car of the chair of rayon council of Verkhovynskyi rayon Ivan Shkidiuk. The police officers even used force against the journalist, Podrobytsi report. Initially, a police major allowed the journalist to pass to take some footage of the smashed car, but in 30 seconds, according to the journalist, the officer changed his mind and pushed the journalist away.

The journalist is sure that the chair of the rayon council was driving the car drunk, as it was his birthday that day, and this is why he was chased away. Police representatives commented that they are not hiding anything and that they allowed the "Inter" TV channel’s filming crew to take footage for a news story.

Matsiotskyi is now preparing an official complaint to the oblast police administration about impediment to journalist activities.